Calling the November shooting at Ft. Hood in Texas the first strike and the near-bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 a second strike, the former Marine general said Obama "certainly doesn't want that third strike, and neither does anybody else."

The news about missed red flags in the Christmas Day plot comes as the Pentagon released another report citing rising recidivism among prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay prison.

Obama repeated this week that he has not abandoned plans to close Guantanamo Bay, calling it a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda. But with renewed focus on Yemen as a haven for the Christmas Day bomber and other terrorists, the White House has stopped releases to Yemen.